How do you install heater core 2003 Impala?

Answer 1

The heater core is difficult to change on the Ford trucks. They have it buried in the plenum box and you have to remove the steering wheel, steering column, dash, evacuate the refrigerant system, drain the radiator, and remove the plenum box to get to the core. Replacing the core is easy, getting to it is a day's work.

You need to be sure that the heater core is really the problem before tackling this job. If you have a pool of coolant on the floor, you'll have to go after the core. If the problem is lack of heat, there are some things you need to eliminate before tearing into the truck. You need to make sure that coolant is flowing through the core. Check the temperature of the heater hoses going into the firewall when the engine is cool and see if they warm up together as the engine warms up. If both hoses get hot at about the same rate, this is a good indication that coolant is flowing through the core. You can also remove the hoses and flush the core with a water hose splice from Home Depot and a water hose. Water should flow unobstructed through the core.

If it appears that coolant is flowing and you don't have obvious leaks, the next step is to check the blend door. This door controls the air flow through the heater core and failure is common on Ford trucks. When the door breaks, it can block the flow of air through the core and kill heat and will also have an impact on AC. If the system seems to work intermittently, it's a good indication that the door is broken and rattling around randomly blocking or opening the passage to the core.

For diagnostic information on how to check the operation of the blend door and a cheap easy fix, check the heatertreater listing on Ebay or the web site at heatertreater.net. The dealer fix for the blend door is basically the same procedure for replacing the heater core, so it will be expensive. The HeaterTreater alternative will solve the problem at a fraction of the cost and work and is well within the capability of the average shade tree mechanic.

Answer 2

Heater Core removal/installation 2003 Chevy Impala 3.4 liter engine:

1. Remove both plastic kick plates located under the passenger and driver side of dash.

2. Remove 2 screws holding the rear floor duct adapter (small, long triangle shaped plastic piece) located behind the lower duct, has some wires connected to it on the right side. Slide it out from behind the duct to the right, to get it out of the way.

3. Remove lower duct located under the center portion of the dash below the ashtray, its helps to pull the carpet away from the bottom portion. It has multiple screws holding it in place. This step takes some effort to remove, it slides out to the right.

4. Heater Core is located up under the air conditioning control knobs/radio behind a large plastic cover that snaps off.

5. Heater Core has a black plastic retaining clip around the two coolant pipes. Use a flat-head screwdriver to unsnap the clip and remove it.

6. Under the hood, you will see the two coolant pipes coming out of the firewall. It helps to remove the hoses from engine portion first to make room to remove them from the heater core. Remove hoses.

7. Remove heater core. Install in reverse order.

Time to do the job should be under 1 hour.

Answer 3

First thing is to drain the coolant. Their are two hoses that go to the heater core at the firewall. They can be difficult to remove so be ready to break at least one or both when doing the job. Go inside the cab and drop down the glove box and remove the cover their and a series of 8mm bolts to be removed. Once that is removed you can see the core. Now you will need to remove the blend door accuator It is located above the heater core. It will have a electrical connector and three bolts holding it down. You can remove two of them and slide it out because they are kinda blind (you can't really see them but feel them) once you get it out you can see how it goes back in. Basically you can install the bolts to the air box and then slide and "click" the actuator back into place. Now with that out of the way you can remove the heater core. Do everything in reverse and fill with coolant.